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Linen Thanksgiving Napkins

I love sewing napkins for Thanksgiving. They are such a simple and fun way to dress up the table and you can use them all year long. In fact, I like making them so much that I’ve made a new set for the Purl Bee every year since 2006! My main goal for this year’s set was that they be quick and simple while still being beautiful and different from year’s past.

We recently received a big shipment of linen fabric from one of our favorite companies, Globalweave. They make stunning linens that range from the jewel toned Sheer Linen and Open Weave Linen, to undyed, rustic Linen Solids. Shipments from Globalweave often come from India wrapped in burlap and sewn shut by hand which always make them seem like such a special treat. After unpacking the latest shipment of their lovely linens I knew I had to make this year’s Thanksgiving napkins with of them.

I chose the natural Sheer Linen and paired it with one of our bright and seasonal Fire Spectrum Bundles. I love the look of the natural, nubby, undyed linen framed with the rich tones of red, brown and orange. Since the fabrics themselves were already so pretty next to one another, and since the operative word here was simple I sewed them up using a quick technique for clean mitered corners; no bias binding or fiddly hand sewing required! Happy Thanksgiving!–Molly

If you want them to be crisp and flat they would need to be ironed. However I find slightly wrinkled linen to be rather pretty so I probably wouldn't iron them except for on special occasions, like Thanksgiving!

This is such a brilliant idea and so easy.
I’ve just made a throw rug using this method – a piece of beautiful hand-blocked Indian fabric and plain backing fabric.
It has to be the easiest way ever of doing mitred corners.
I’m about to start on some place mats and napkins.
Many thanks for sharing such a great project.

P.S. If you lay the napkin with colored side up, bring bottom piece up to fold into a triangle. Then fold the two bottom points toward the center and roll the flat sides around to the back, and you have delightful and colorful ‘feathers’ to place inside your water glasses. Looks so cute on the table!

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